video: advocacy group calls for pot to be taxedfrom raw replay: The Marijuana Policy Project is running ads calling for California to tax the sale of marijuana. The AP has more details here. A pro-marijuana group is launching another television bid to legalize pot in California — this time with the pitch that legalizing and taxing the drug could help solve the state’s massive budget deficit. The 30-second spot, airing Wednesday and paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project, features a retired 58-year-old state worker who says state leaders “are ignoring millions of Californians who want to pay taxes.” “We’re marijuana consumers,” says Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks, who says she began using marijuana after suffering multiple strokes three years ago. “Instead of being treated like criminals for using a substance safer than alcohol, we want to pay our fair share.” This video is from Fox News’ America’s Newsroom, broadcast July 8, 2009.

army feeble as murders surge in mexico drug war cityfrom reuters: A massive army surge has failed to calm raging drug gang violence in Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the U.S. border that is at the heart of President Felipe Calderon’s drug war. An influx of 10,000 troops and federal police in March brought temporary calm, but three months later drug murders have resumed and are overtaking 2008 levels, according to police and media tallies. Calderon, whose party lost heavily in mid-term weekend elections, is under extra pressure to deliver on security as Mexico’s slumping economy hits his popularity. In Ciudad Juarez, corrupt police still openly work openly for gangs despite ubiquitous army patrols. And local newspapers constantly show images of bullet-ridden vehicles and bleeding bodies on busy streets.